Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Film / TheAfricanQueen

Go To

1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1600056076049127700
2%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
3%%
4[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_81swirkfbpl_sl1420.png]]
5%%
6''The African Queen'' is a 1951 romance/adventure film directed by Creator/JohnHuston, based on the 1935 novel by Creator/CSForester, and starring Creator/KatharineHepburn, Creator/HumphreyBogart and Creator/RobertMorley.
7
8Hepburn plays Rose Sayer, a missionary living with her brother in German East Africa at the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Bogart plays Charlie Allnut, the hard-drinking man with a riverboat who, among other things, brings the mail from town every few weeks. When Rose's brother dies, Charlie offers to take her to the nearest town to catch a ship to Britain. Being gutsy as she is, Rose instead creates a daring plan to build a makeshift torpedo, sail ''down'' the river (which no one has ever done) and take out the ''Königin Luise'', a ship patrolling the German-controlled lake that is the only thing standing in the way of the British army. This being a film with a man and a woman as its primary stars in the [[TheFifties 1950s]], naturally, [[UptightLovesWild they fall in love]].
9
10Bogart's role won him his only [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]], while Hepburn would add yet another nomination to her impressive collection.
11
12The TroubledProduction of this film made such an impression on Hepburn that she later wrote a book about it, entitled ''The Making of'' The African Queen: ''or How I Went To Africa With Bogie, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind''. Hepburn being an ace DeadpanSnarker in real life, it is very funny.
13
14Screenwriter Peter Viertel also wrote a novel about the shoot that was later adapted by Creator/ClintEastwood as ''Film/WhiteHunterBlackHeart'' starring Eastwood as John Wilson (a Huston {{Expy}}).
15
16This film is notable for how damn long it took to come out on DVD despite widespread interest: it only came out in 2010, at least in the US. (An earlier British DVD was taken from a faded print. Later DVD and Blu-Ray releases are fully remastered.)
17
18''Film/RoosterCogburn'', the sequel to 1969's ''Film/TrueGrit'' starring John Wayne, co-starred Hepburn and was reputedly heavily inspired by this film (when it wasn't [[RecycledPremise rehashing the first film]].) It was even marketed as ''Rooster Cogburn (...and the Lady)'' to promote Hepburn in a manner reminiscent of this film.
19----
20!!This film provides examples of:
21
22* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Charlie is described in the book as a rather funny-looking little man. In the movie, he's Humphrey Bogart. In the novel, he initially thinks of Rose as "ugly." In the movie, she's Katherine Hepburn.
23* AdaptationalBadass: In the movie version, Rose and Charlie actually [[spoiler: succeed in sinking the "Louisa"]]. In the novel they don't, the [[spoiler: ship has to be sunk by a couple of more modern British gunboats transported overland piece by piece and then reassembled to be launched in the East African lake]].
24* AdaptationalNationality: Charlie is a patriotic working-class Englishman in the original novel. Humphrey Bogart couldn't do the English accent, so the character was made Canadian. His patriotism still applies to UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire, which sort of works.
25* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: The Captain of the ''Louisa'' condemning Charlie and Rose to hang. In the novel he rejects that notion as uncivilized and hands them over to the British under a flag of truce.]]
26* AdaptationExpansion: [[spoiler: The end of the novel says that Rose and Charlie will try to find someone to marry them. In the film they actually are married on the deck of the German ship]].
27* AppealToNature: Charlie cites this trope to justify his drunken behavior. Rose responds with the famous line, "Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put into this world to rise above."
28* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted for the most part. Rose and Charlie certainly look like two people who have lived in Africa for a while - Charlie especially is very sun-tanned while Rose's complexion is explained by the hats she wears. Her clothes at least look as though she's had them for a while and they do rip after a while. Charlie seems to hang a lampshade on them not looking worse - by Rose being a {{Determinator}} who works hard to make an effort.
29* BigDamnKiss: Rose and Charlie kiss after surviving being shot at by German sentries.
30* BreakfastInBed: Rose fixes Charlie a tea which she places next to him in the morning while he is still asleep. When he wakes up, he sees the cup and name-checks the trope.
31* BritsLoveTea: Being British, drinking tea is Rose's favorite pastime. Charlie, while being Canadian, enjoys his cup of tea too.
32* CharacterDevelopment:
33** Rose learns to [[DefrostingIceQueen let go of her social inhibitions]] and get down and dirty for the sake of their goal.
34** Charlie likewise becomes more optimistic and less lazy.
35* ContrivedCoincidence:
36** The village is attacked by the Germans just after Charlie leaves.
37** Rose's brother dies just before Charlie comes back.
38* ConvenientlyTimedDistraction: [[spoiler: At the end, Charlie and Rose evade their death by hanging when the German gunboat suddenly hits their makeshift torpedoes and sinks.]]
39* CosyCatastrophe: Charlie remarks early on that The African Queen has enough supplies for them to wait out the war on a quiet part of the island. Even when they're going down the river, they're never short of food or opportunities to wash.
40* DeathByDespair: Rose's brother goes mad with despair and then proceeds to die of it after the Germans burn down the village (especially his church) and drag away all the villagers. Once the flames are out, he starts mindlessly tending the vegetable garden, rambling about the weather; when his sister Rose helps him inside, he collapses on the floor, and as she puts him to bed, he starts rambling again, this time having lost perspective of time and believing he's back in England -- this is how the viewers learn how he and Rose ended up as missionaries. In mid-ramble, he falls silent, and Rose's demeanor makes it clear he's just died, which she confirms to Charlie when he arrives soon afterwards.
41* DefrostingIceQueen: Rosie is conservative and a bit of a prude at the beginning, though not exactly a shrew. She learns to loosen up over the course of the film due to the necessities of living on a riverboat and falling in love with Charlie. However, she maintains her iron will throughout.
42* {{Determinator}}: Rose really will stop at nothing to make sure they get to their goal.
43* DeusExMachina: Some of the pair's obstacles are solved for them.
44** When the Germans are firing on the African Queen, the commander has Charlie in his sights, but a flash of glare blinds him just before he can take the shot.
45** When the ''African Queen'' is stuck and lost in a marsh, Rose prays for God's mercy. When she and Charlie go to sleep that night, a [[WeatherSavesTheDay sudden rain-storm]] washes them into the lake where they were headed.
46* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: An unbelievable amount of stuff gets slipped under the radar in this movie...
47** [After going down the first rapids]:
48---> '''Charlie:''' I don't blame you for being scared, Miss, not one little bit. Ain't no person in their right mind ain't scared of white water.\
49'''Rose:''' I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!\
50'''Charlie:''' How's that, Miss?\
51'''Rose:''' I've only known such excitement a few times before - a few times in my dear brother's sermons when the spirit was really upon him...I must say I'm filled with admiration for your skill, Mr. Allnut. Do you suppose I'll try practice steering a bit that someday I might try? I can hardly wait... Now that I've had a taste of it.
52** And the scene of her pumping the bilges, as he shows her how to do it...more...slowly...
53* DrunkenSong: Charlie sings "The Bold Fisherman" when he gets drunk.
54* DryCrusader: Rose is visibly upset when Charlie starts drinking gin, though she politely keeps her opinions to herself. Only after he gets drunk and rants at her does she dump all of his gin overboard while he's sleeping it off. But she later points out that she didn't throw away the gin because he was drinking, but because he reneged on his promise to her.
55* EveryoneHasStandards: The command staff of the ''Königin Luise'' are rather pitiless, but do give Charlie every opportunity to tell them the truth during his trial. The captain also grants Charlie his last request to marry him and Rosie.
56* FinalSpeech: Rose's brother makes one about the disappointments of his life.
57* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Rose first arrives, Charlie notes how important it is to "read the river" and points to signs in the water that reveal hidden obstacles. In the end, the Germans fail to notice the wreckage of the African Queen just beneath the surface and plow right into it.
58* FourEyesZeroSoul: The commander of the German base wears round wire-rim glasses and sneers malevolently when ordering his troops to fire on the African Queen.
59* GetOut: During heavy rain, Rose is initially horrified at Charlie coming into her sleeping quarters and orders him out.
60* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Rose's brother loses his mind after he sees the destruction of the African village where he worked.
61* GrandeDame: Rose has some of the characteristics of this type, especially early on.
62* TheGreatRepair: After a devastating encounter with the river's rapids, Charlie and Rose use fire and a makeshift bellow and anvil to fix the boat's bent shaft and broken propeller.
63* HandsOnApproach: Charlie shows Rose how to pump the bilges and so he gets very close to her.
64* HumanLadder: Rose stands on Charlie's shoulders at one point to make a repair.
65* ImportantHaircut: Charlie shaving off his stubble coincides with him taking the mission seriously from now on.
66* InstantLeechJustFallInWater: Charlie gets covered in leeches when he drags the ship through reeds. After pulling them all off, he has to get right back into the river.
67* InVinoVeritas: When drunk, Charlie finally speaks up about how insane Rose's "plan" is and how much he hates her HolierThanThou attitude.
68* KangarooCourt: When captured by the Germans, Charlie gets a defense attorney during his trial but the guy doesn't even attempt to challenge the charge.
69* KickTheDog: The German army burning down a native village in act one. At least it's implied that the villagers were only [[PetTheDog captured rather than killed]].
70* LastWishMarriage: [[spoiler: Charlie asks the Captain to marry him and Rose before the Germans are about to hang them.]]
71* MacGyvering: Charlie manages to repair his damaged boat using a makeshift bellows and anvil, and uses some canisters, blasting powder and bullets to create some makeshift ramming explosives.
72* MarriedAtSea: Well, married at a lake, but it's still the captain who marries them. Leads to one of the most iconic lines of the film.
73--> '''Captain''': I now pronounce you husband and wife - proceed with the execution.
74* MoodWhiplash: Charlie clowns around, making animal noises that send Rosie into fits of laughter. Then they both notice the huge waterfall ahead...
75* NonNudeBathing: This is par for the course given the nudity taboos of post-Edwardian society. Rose and Charlie go bathing, he in long underwear and she in a shift. Even still, they stay on opposite sides of the boat, and she asks that he close his eyes when he helps her back onto the boat.
76* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent:
77** Rose is actually ''supposed'' to be a Briton (the sister of ''very'' British Robert Morley). Katharine Hepburn uses her own natural accent - which is actually a Mid-Atlantic one that actors in America were trained in on the stage back in the day (essentially the American equivalent to the British RP). It however sounds decently English to American ears.
78** Humphrey Bogart couldn't do the cockney accent that Charlie was written with, so the character was changed to a Canadian, and Bogart uses his natural New York accent.
79* OldMaid: Rose appears to be in her forties and is unmarried. Charlie actually calls her an old maid at one point, or more precisely a, "crazy, psalm-singing, skinny old maid!"
80* OppositesAttract: Charlie is a slobby Canadian engineer, while Rose is a prim and proper British missionary. They hit it off almost immediately.
81* OverlyLongGag: Charlie's GrowlingGut at the tea table goes on for quite some time.
82* PercussiveMaintenance: A screwdriver is caught in the ship's steam engine, requiring Charlie to occasionally kick it to keep it working. When Rose asks why he doesn't dismantle the engine to retrieve the screwdriver, Charlie says he enjoys doing the kicking.
83* PeriodPiece: Released in 1951 but set in 1914.
84* PetTheDog: After her initial shock at Charlie invading her sleeping space, Rose invites him back in out of the rain and sets an umbrella over his head when she sees that he's still too close to the edge.
85* PlotTriggeringDeath: The death of Rose's brother is the reason why she leaves the village with Charlie.
86* PluckyGirl: Rose is a little more refined than most examples, but her spirit and determination to sink the gunboat definitely puts her in there.
87* ThePollyanna: Rose is this merged with StiffUpperLip. Katharine Hepburn was told by John Huston to play her like Eleanor Roosevelt, with her "society smile" at all times. She called this the best direction she ever received.
88* TheQuest: To sink the Louisa via a homemade torpedo.
89* RevealShot: When Rose and Charlie finally have to give up their attempt to pull the boat through the mud, a crane shot reveals that the lake is only a stone's throw behind the reefs.
90* RoadTripRomance: Except on a boat.
91* ShirtlessScene: Charlie gets one when he has to pull [[FanDisservice leeches off himself]].
92* SignificantNameShift: After they fall for each other, Rose and Charlie start calling each other by their first name.
93* SlipknotPonytail: Rose's hair finally comes out of its updo in the third act.
94* SmallNameBigEgo: Rose's brother really looks down on Charlie and pointedly ignores him when they have tea together, despite her brother having to be a missionary because he failed his exams to be a higher-level priest.
95* SmoochOfVictory: The first time Rose and Charlie kiss is in the joy of triumph because they pass a dangerous part of the river.
96%% * SpiritedYoungLady: As with many Katharine Hepburn characters, Rose is very spirited and determined, though middle-aged.
97* StiffUpperLip: Both Rose and Charlie display a lot of resilience during their journey without much complaining.
98* TheSwarm: When the two lead try to anchor for the night, a swarm of insects attack.
99* TatteredFlag: The Union Jack that Rose made for the attack, gets tattered during the storm on the lake. [[spoiler: It foreshadows the sinking of the ''African Queen'']].
100* ThrillSeeker: Rose quickly realises she wasn't this stimulated for all of her life... and enjoys every bit of it.
101* UnresolvedSexualTension: After their first kiss, the two leads act awkward around each other, e.g. when Rose pulls the thorn from Charlie's sole. It doesn't last long though until they resolve their tension.
102* UptightLovesWild: Rose in this case is the uptight that loves Charlie's wild.
103* VehicleTitle: ''The African Queen'' is the name of Charlie's boat.
104* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: It was based on the real-life sinking of a German gunboat in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI that required hauling a boat through the wilderness. No, it was not done by a beautiful movie star and a plucky mechanic. It was done by the Royal Navy. In turn, Creator/ClintEastwood made a thinly veiled depiction of this film's production in ''White Hunter Black Heart''.
105* VisualTitleDrop: We see the [[VehicleTitle boat's name]] in a close-up in the second scene of the movie.
106* WasntThatFun: Rose ''liked'' going through rapids!
107* WeatherSavesTheDay: When all hope seems lost, a sudden rainstorm washes the ''African Queen'' into the lake.
108* WorstAid: And completely unintentionally, too. Take a wild guess how it ends for Charlie once Rose throws away all his gin, with nothing left to mix with the river water now. This is doubly ironic on meta-level, since Bogart was reportedly one of the few people on set who wasn't sick, ''precisely'' due to the heavy drinking he was indulging.
109* WorthIt: When Charlie is fever-ridden after the leech attack, he tells Rose that his sacrifice was worth the time he had with her.

Top